• SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    4 months ago

    Sorry my dude, but according to this they are.

    There are two species of black widow spider in Canada: the western black widow found in parts of BC through to Manitoba (mostly restricted to areas close to the southern Canada-U.S. border) and the northern black widow in southern and eastern Ontario. On occasion, black widow spiders occur outside of their ranges by hitching a ride on produce such as grapes.

    • herrcaptain@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      4 months ago

      Well, crap. Now I’m going to be irrationally afraid of a run-in with an illusive grape-riding Black Widow.

      I did know about foreign spiders hitching a ride on produce. I just didn’t know that these dudes could take root in our cold wasteland. Nonetheless, thanks for the link!

      • SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        4 months ago

        No worries, if your heart is in decent shape, you’re actually not in much danger from a black widow, as far as I know. It’s mostly the elderly and the really young who die from their bites these days.

        • herrcaptain@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          4 months ago

          Good to know. Nevertheless, I hope to never be in a situation where I get to find out. I’m guessing they’re suuuuper rare here. I checked the iNaturalist app and there were no observed sightings of either type mentioned in that article.

          There’s probably just a colony in the back of a supermarket somewhere.

          • SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            4 months ago

            I’m from Vancouver, and there was definitely a few that lived out back of my dad’s house when I was a teen. TIL my dad’s house was a supermarket!

            • herrcaptain@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              4 months ago

              I can see them surviving in the wild in Vancouver, but here in MB it regularly gets to -30 to -40 for several months in the winter. I’m not sure they’d like that too much.

              That said, maybe your dad’s house is a supermarket. Does he have lots of food in it?